"stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth. The resurrected Jesus is said to have ascended to heaven where he now sits at the Right Hand of God and will return to earth in the Second Coming. Various people have been said to have entered heaven while still alive, including Enoch, Elijah and Jesus himself, after his resurrection. According to Roman Catholic teaching, Mary, mother of Jesus, is also said to have been assumed into heaven and is titled the Queen of Heaven. In the 2nd century AD, Irenaeus of Lyons recorded a"
"recklessly might invoke biblical or mythological allusions: Some referred to him as a jehu, recalling King Jehu of Israel, who was noted for his furious attacks in a chariot (2 Kings 9:20) before he died about 816 BC. Others dubbed him a Phaeton, harking back to the Greek Phaëton, son of Helios who, attempting to drive the chariot of the sun, managed to set the earth on fire. When there was no coachman, a ""postilion"" or ""postillion"" sometimes rode as a guide on the near horse of a pair or of one of the pairs attached to a coach. The"
"of Jonah and Elijah could be interpreted in this context: Prophet Jonah is the prototype of the Christ of the Resurrection, while Elijah of the Christ of the Ascension. In the Old Testament ""Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven"" on a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). But Giorgio Vasari emphasized another aspect of Elijah's story in his description: ""...an Elijah, living by Grace, with his cruse of water and his bread baked in the ashes, under the juniper-tree."" Fabio Chigi repeated this in a letter. The statue was carved by Lorenzetto, Raphael's pupil, but unlike its counterpart,"
"followers into Garveyism by finding the charismatic metaphor: Bedward and Garvey were as Aaron and Moses, one the high priest, the other prophet, both leading the children of Israel out of exile. Garvey's middle name was considered by people to be a mix of the two names Moses and Messiah. Later Bedward proclaimed that he was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ and that, like Elijah, he would ascend into heaven in a flaming chariot. He then expected to rain down fire on those that did not follow him, thereby destroying the whole world. In 1921 he and 800 followers marched"
"heaven; before him, a calf is consumed as a burnt-offering to God. Below right, he is seated under a tree as an angel brings him food. Above right, the kneeling Elie sees Christ appearing in a blue sphere borne by two angels amid rosy clouds. In his right hand, Christ holds a phylactery inscribed: ‘The people of Israel have renounced God and demolished his temples.’ Above the hill, St. Elias is borne upwards in a chariot of fire drawn by four horses. He hands his folded cloak to his disciple Elisha, who stands on the summit. Elisha is about to"
"to Gen. x. 6, Cush, the Ethiopian, is a son of Ham. According to the ""Recognitiones"", the Persians believed that Zoroaster had been taken into heaven in a chariot (""ad cœlum vehiculo sublevatum""); and according to the Jewish legend, the above-mentioned Ethiopian was transported alive into paradise, an occurrence that, like the translation of Elijah, must have taken place by means of a ""vehiculum."" Another reminiscence of the Jewish legend is found in Baruch-Zoroaster's words concerning Jesus: ""He shall descend from my family"", since, according to the Haggadah, Baruch was a priest; and Maria, the mother of Jesus, was of"
"Buraq Al-Burāq ( ""al-Burāq"" or ""lightning"") is a magical horse in Islamic mythology, a creature from the heavens that transported the prophets. Most notably Buraq carried the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and back during the Isra and Mi'raj or ""Night Journey"", as recounted in hadith literature. The ""Encyclopaedia of Islam"", referring to Al-Damiri's writings, considers Buraq to be a derivative of ""barq"" ""lightning"". According to ""Encyclopædia Iranica"", ""Boraq"" is the Arabized form of ""Middle Persian *""barāg"" or *""bārag"", 'a riding beast, mount' (New Pers. ""bāra"")"". Near East and Persian art almost always portrays Buraq with a human"
"that the Children of Israel ""could travel by day or night"". YHWH, the God of the Bible, manifested himself in this pillar of fire or cloud in order to directly guide and comfort the Israelites while he rescued them from their Egyptian slavery. Throughout the Israelite's time in the desert, traveling from Egypt to Canaan (the Promised Land), YHWH continually used this pillar of fire and cloud to lead his people and to remind them of his presence. When the pillar of God moved forward, the people of Israel would pack up their camp and follow behind it. Similarly, when"
"their god. Two altars were set up on Mt. Carmel, one dedicated to Baal, one to Yahweh, and a bull sacrificed upon each altar. When Baal's supporters called upon their god to send fire and consume the sacrifice, nothing happened. When Elijah called on Yahweh, fire came down from heaven immediately and consumed the offering. Elijah ordered the people to seize the prophets of Baal and Asherah, and they were all slaughtered. After the prophets were slain, Elijah fled from Jezebel's wrath (). Elijah fled for his life to the wilderness, where he mourned the devotion of Israel to Baal"
"Elijah Elijah (; ; , meaning ""My God is Yahweh/YHWH"") or latinized form Elias ( ) was, according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC). In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship of the Hebrew God over that of the Canaanite deity Baal. God also performed many miracles through Elijah, including resurrection (raising the dead), bringing fire down from the sky, and entering Heaven alive ""by fire"". He is also portrayed as leading a"
"prophet Idris to be the same person as Enoch from the Bible. This is because the Qu'ran states that God ""raised him to a lofty station"", and that has been taken to be a term for ascending, upon which it is concluded that ""Idris"" was ""Enoch"". In the Hebrew bible the word for ""heavens"" is ""shamayim"". This is plural - it means ""heavens"", not ""heaven"" - but seems nevertheless to have a singular meaning: i.e., the older parts of the bible speak of ""heavens"" in the plural but evidence for a belief in more than one heaven from the bible"
"reaching for the sky is probably Jeremiah, son of a landowner. In the Bible Jeremiah was chosen to prophesy God's anger at the Israelites who worshiped idols. He had to prepare his people for the fall of Jerusalem and for being enslaved. Knowing the fate of his tribe he is usually depicted as an old, worn man looking up to the skies, praying for God's forgiveness. The next icon shows a traditional depiction of Isaiah, in which an angel touches his lips. According to the iconographical traditions the angel fills Isaiah's lips with fire to preach his prophecies without fear."
"fails, but goes on to try storming Heaven in person, in a chariot driven by birds. The story attributes to Abraham elements from the story of Moses' birth (the cruel king killing innocent babies, with the midwives ordered to kill them) and from the careers of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who emerged unscathed from the fire. Nimrod is thus given attributes of two archetypal cruel and persecuting kings – Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh. Some Jewish traditions also identified him with Cyrus, whose birth according to Herodotus was accompanied by portents, which made his grandfather try to kill him. A confrontation is"
"they go. Beneath the living creatures are wheels (""ofannim"") full of eyes. On their heads rests a firmament upon which is the throne of God. When the divine chariot moves, their wings rustle with a noise like thunder. On the throne the prophet sees the Divine Being, having the likeness of a man. His body from the loins upward is shining (""ḥashmal""); downward it is fire (in Ezek. viii. 2 the reverse is stated). In the Sinaitic revelation God descends and appears upon earth. In the prophetic vision, on the other hand, He appears in heaven, which is in keeping"
"the seraph Abdiel in the first day of the War of Heaven. In the Coptic ""Pistis Sophia"" (MS. Add. 5114.), Jesus bids the apostles preach that they ""be delivered from the rivers of smoke of Ariel."" Because of the association of Jerusalem with the name ""Ariel"", it is likely that this is an allusion to the fires of Gehenna (or Gehinnom), a valley near Jerusalem deemed cursed because of its association with early pagan religions (Ba'als and Caananite gods, including Moloch) where children were sacrificed by immolation. In later Jewish, Christian and Islamic scripture, Gehenna is a destination of the"
"came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."" The phrase has become a byword for divine energy, and inspired the title of the 1981 film ""Chariots of Fire"", in which the hymn Jerusalem is sung. The plural phrase ""chariots of fire"" refers to 2 Kings 6:16–18. Blake lived in London for most of his life, but wrote much of ""Milton"" while living in the village of Felpham in Sussex. Amanda Gilroy argues"
"vision: first, the four winged creatures with four faces each, then four wheels of a chariot of fire supporting a sapphire throne, and finally on the throne, the god of Israel himself. The style of face on Ezekiel is much the same as Jeremiah. He displays a mustache and short beard, with frizzled curls of long hair falling upon the neck. Instead of a short tunic, the prophet wears a tunic that is long and belted, leaving uncovered only the tip of the right foot. In place of a turban, Ezekiel's head bears a cap with a visor attached by"
"heaven following their resurrection from the dead. Non-Jewish readers would have been familiar with the case of the emperor Augustus, whose ascent was witnessed by Senators; Romulus the founder of Rome, who, like Jesus, was taken to heaven in a cloud; the Greek hero Heracles (Hercules); and others. The common thread linking all the New Testament ascension references, reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional statements, is the exaltation of Jesus, meaning that through his ascension Jesus took his seat at the right hand of God in Heaven: ""He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand"
"the temple priests and the king of Babylon, Nimrod. The news spread like fire in the kingdom and people were coming from all places to watch the execution. A huge pit was dug up and a large quantity of wood was piled up. Then the biggest fire people ever witnessed was lit. The flames were so high up in the sky that even the birds could not fly over it for fear of being burnt themselves. Ibrahim's hands and feet were chained, and he was put in a catapult, ready to be thrown in. During this time, Angel Jibril came"
"the Messiah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — each of whom was distinguished for six praiseworthy qualities. Nahshon is depicted as one the ancestors of Christ in a lunette in the Sistine Chapel, where a youthful Nahshon is shown wearing a red robe and reading a book. Nahshon In the Hebrew Bible, Nahshon ( ""Naḥšon"") was a tribal leader of the Judahites during the wilderness wanderings of the Book of Numbers. In the King James Version, the name is spelled Naashon. According to a Jewish Midrash, he was the person who initiated the Hebrews' passage through the Red Sea, by"
"Jerusalem. Muhammad alighted, tethered Buraq to the Temple Mount and performed prayer, where on God's command he was tested by Gabriel. It was told by Anas ibn Malik that Muhammad said: ""Jibra'il brought me a vessel of wine, a vessel of water and a vessel of milk, and I chose the milk. Jibra'il said: 'You have chosen the Fitrah (natural instinct).'"" In the second part of the journey, the Mi'raj (an Arabic word that literally means ""ladder""), Jibra'il took him to the heavens, where he toured the ""seven stages of heaven"", and spoke with the earlier prophets such as Abraham"
"The ""Likeness of a Man"" sits on a throne made of sapphire. The Bible later makes mention of a third type of angel found in the Merkabah called """"seraphim"""" (lit. ""burning"") angels. These angels appear like flashes of fire continuously ascending and descending. These ""seraphim"" angels power the movement of the chariot. In the hierarchy of these angels, ""seraphim"" are the highest, that is, closest to God, followed by the ""hayyot"", which are followed by the ""ophanim"". The chariot is in a constant state of motion, and the energy behind this movement runs according to this hierarchy. The movement of"
"Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel then ascended, saw God, ate, and drank. Moses and Joshua arose, and Moses ascended Mount Sinai, leaving Aaron and Hur in charge of legal matters. A cloud covered the mountain, hiding the Presence of the Lord for six days, appearing to the Israelites as a fire on the top of the mountain. Moses went inside the cloud and remained on the mountain for 40 days and nights. Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah reading read the parashah according to the following schedule: The parashah"
"lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."" (Isaiah 6:1–3) And one cried to another, ""Holy, holy, holy, is YHWH the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."" (verses 2–3) One seraph carries out an act of ritual purification for the prophet by touching his lips with a live coal from the altar (verses 6–7). The text describes the ""seraphim"" as winged celestial beings with a fiery"
"unit are told in pictorial form by the story from Greek mythology of the winged chariot of Helios which was brought to earth by a bolt of lightning thrown by Zeus. A summary of the story is as follows: Helios, the sun, drove across the heavens from east to west daily, in a winged chariot drawn by the celestial horses. His son, Phaeton, in order to please his mother, and to satisfy those who doubted that he was really a son of Helios, obtained permission from his father to take his place in the chariot for one day. Phaeton had"
"dies without recovering from his injuries in accordance with Elijah's word. According to , Elisha (Eliseus) and ""the sons of the prophets"" knew beforehand that Elijah would one day be assumed into heaven. Elisha asked Elijah to ""let a double portion"" of Elijah's ""spirit"" be upon him. Elijah agreed, with the condition that Elisha would see him be ""taken"". Elijah, in company with Elisha, approaches the Jordan. He rolls up his mantle and strikes the water. The water immediately divides and Elijah and Elisha cross on dry land. Suddenly, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear and Elijah"
"his retirement to the desert, his vision of God appearing, his return to his work, and his ascension on a fiery chariot into heaven. The work ends with prophecies and praise. The work in two parts opens with a declamation by Elijah, after which the overture is played. The sections are listed in the following table, with the text in both German and English, a biblical source for the passage (the dramatic action highlighted by a background colour), and the voices. The choir is mostly four-part SATB, but up to eight parts. The soloists are Elijah (baritone); soprano (S), often"
"measuring ten cubits high. In , Hezekiah prays, addressing Yahweh as ""enthroned above the cherubim"" (referring to the mercy seat). Cherubim feature at some length in the Book of Ezekiel. While they first appear in chapter one, in which they are transporting the throne of Yahweh by the river Chebar, they are not called ""cherubim"" until chapter 10. In Ezekiel 1:5-11 they are described as having the likeness of a man, and having four faces: that of a man, a lion (on the right side), and ox (on the left side), and an eagle. The four faces represent the four"
"v. 4, God appears from Teman and Paran. His majesty is described as a glory of light and brightness; pestilence precedes Him. The mountains tremble violently; the earth quakes; the people are sore afraid. God rides in a chariot of war, with horses—a conception found also in Isa. xix. 1, where God appears on a cloud, and in Ps. xviii. 10, where He appears on a cherub. The biblical prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel receive their commissions as prophets amid glorious manifestations of God. Isaiah sees God on a high and lofty throne. More precisely, however, he sees not Him but"
"Metatron Metatron (Hebrew מטטרון) or Mattatron is a character mentioned in a few brief passages in the Aggadah and in mystical Kabbalistic texts within the Rabbinic literature. The name Metatron is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and how the name originated is a matter of debate. In folkloristic tradition, he is the highest of the angels and serves as the celestial scribe or ""recording angel"". In early kabbalah, Metatron is the name Enoch received after his transformation into an angel. In Jewish apocrypha Genesis 5:24 is often cited as evidence of Enoch's bodily ascension into heaven: ""And Enoch walked"
"the place to which he retired for his prayer. Jerusalem is Islam's third holiest city after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Although the Koran does not clarify from where exactly Muhammad ascended to Heaven, the ""Haram al Sharif"" (Temple Mount) of Jerusalem is believed by Muslims to be the location. According to the tradition, during a single night around the year 621 CE, the Islamic prophet Muhammad was carried by his mythological steed ""al-Burāq"" from Mecca to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. According to the tradition, from there he ascended to heaven where he spoke with Allah. This widely"
"of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote that one may see the entire Exodus story as “the movement of the fiery manifestation of the divine presence.” Similarly, Professor William Propp of the University of California, San Diego, identified fire (, ""esh"") as the medium in which God appears on the terrestrial plane — in the Burning Bush of the cloud pillar of and atop Mount Sinai in and and upon the Tabernacle in Professor Everett Fox of Clark University noted that “glory” (, ""kevod"") and “stubbornness” (, ""kaved lev"") are leading words throughout the book of Exodus that give it"
"Nuriel Nuriel, an angel in Jewish mythology, translates as ""Fire of the Lord"" and is the angel responsible for hailstorms. In Jewish legend, Moses encountered Nuriel in the 2nd heaven, when he issues from the side of Chesed (Mercy), Nuriel manifests in the form of an eagle, an eagle that, when issuing from the side of Geburah (Strength), is Uriel. According to the Zohar Nuriel governs Virgo. He is 300 parasangs (approx. 5.6 km) tall and has an army of 50 myriads of angels (= 500,000) ""all fashioned out of water and fire."" The height of Nuriel is exceeded only"